For many years, cavities in teeth have been filled with amalgam which is an alloy of mercury and other metals. The amalgam has a thick consistency which enables a dentist to pack it into a cavity preparation and to establish contours with a matrix band through compression before the amalgam hardens. In addition, the amalgam is relatively easy to trim before the final set. Recently new plastic materials have been developed for restoration purposes. These materials are formed of a base and a catalyst which react to form a very hard material which is difficult to trim. Moreover, these materials do not have the consistency to be compressed, for example, with the conventional matrix band, into a cavity preparation to form the desired contours. In addition, they set up very rapidly, thereby enhancing the difficulty of establishing the desired contours by compression. The conventional wooden wedges and cellophane strips have been used with these materials to establish the sought after contours, however the results are not satisfactory in all cases.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 351065, 388620, 625888, 701799, 1133379, 1935481, 2629930, 2891313 and 3108377 disclose different types of dental matrices and wedges, however, they are not satisfactory for use with the new plastic materials.